Friday 28 November 2014

4 Cheese Cauliflower Noodle Lasagna



4 Cheese Cauliflower Noodle Lasagna:


Meat Sauce:

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tin(15oz) tomato sauce
1 tin(15oz) diced tomatoes 
1 tsp Italian Seasoning 
1/4 cup dry Parmesan Cheese 

Cauliflower Noodles:

4-5 cups cauliflower rice, packed
5 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Additional Ingredients:

2 cups cottage cheese
Italian Seasoning 
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese

Start by making your cauliflower noodles. Pre heat oven to 350. Place parchment paper onto a large cookie sheet. To make cauliflower rice: wash cauliflower and cut into florets. Put into food processor with water and blend until it is finer than rice. Place cauliflower into a bowl; making sure to have water in the bowl as well. Microwave on high for 5 minutes.Place the cauliflower rice in a tea towel placed into a colander. Rinse it with cold water to allow it to cool of faster. Twist the tea towel and squeeze out ALL the moisture. You will be surprised how much liquid comes out but it is import to have dry cauliflower rice. I used 2 average sized cauliflower and the end result was between 4 and 5 cups of cauliflower rice.
Place drained rice into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients for the noodles. Evenly spread the mixture onto the bottom of 2 9x13 pans lined with Parchment paper. You want it as thin as possible but at the same time making sure there are no holes. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Carefully peel off of the parchment paper. Set aside.

While your noodles are baking you can start your meat sauce. Place ground beef into a frying pan along with the diced onion and garlic. Fry the meat mixture until evenly browned. Add Tomato Sauce, Diced Tomatoes, Italian Seasoning and Parmesan Cheese. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend in. Remove from heat.


To assemble the Lasagna:
Put about half of your meat sauce onto the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Top with a layer of noodles. Spread the cottage cheese over the noodles. Top with another layer of noodles followed by the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle a good layer of shredded cheese on top. I use about 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and at least 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. I like to sprinkle Italian Seasoning (maybe 1/4 tsp) on top of the cheese yet just to give it a nice appearance.
Cover with foil (make sure to spray your foil with oil to prevent sticking) and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

This is by far my favorite low carb recipe. In my opinion it is much better than the typical zucchini noodles because it is not as watery. It is well worth the effort! 





Monday 17 November 2014

Creamy Coleslaw


Creamy Coleslaw


1 package coleslaw mix( or  equivalent amount of shredded carrots and cabbage)
1/ 4 cup green onions-optional
1 apple, cored, sliced and cut into bit sized pieces-optional

Dressing:

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp celery salt

Put first 3 ingredients into a bowl. Mix dressing ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour over veggies. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.